In an ironic twist in the Gwisai case, the state’s key witness has been exposed as a fake – thanks in part to his Facebook profile.

This story made my night yesterday. I mean surely Rule #1 for a prospective undercover agent: Don’t develop social networking profiles with your real name. And certainly don’t use a picture of yourself!

Zoe Williams writing for the Guardian discusses how many “real” friends most people have in the age of Facebook and Twitter and shares the Portuguese saying, “You have five friends, and the rest is landscape.” More here

With Mining Minister Mpofu boasting about the US$2bn in diamond revenue to be coming Zimbabwe’s way, the Committee for the People’s Charter issued their suggested priorities for this income.

We shared this with our subscribers, and some of them replied with their other top issues to be funded.

Note how ZESA tops the list for many – even before today’s electricity outage.

Fertilizer must be subsidized and Tokwe Mkosi dam must be completed

——

I am not sure whether it was by design or error that you left out the emotive issue of electricity on your list of priority areas when most people are affected on a daily basis and we cannot sue ZESA for damage to electrical appliances caused by power outages. Government could also do well to establish a benefit fund for the disabled and dualise the Harare-Mutare highway.

——

The need to regularize the hap hazard agric in farms that are producing below or nothing. Proceeds from diamonds can be channeled to enhance our agriculture by way of making the land allocation transparency and supporting the farmers to grow what is important and relevant than what fetches $ in the international market. Equitable distribution of these resources in the entire region is also important.

——

Priority 8 – Subsidizing/make affordable rural electricity bill rates for rural institutions/entities such as rural shops which are billed commercial rates same as OK /TM supermarkets. Whereas rural businesses only generate income once a year on Christmas Day!

——

One cannot underestimate the need for effective checks and balances when it come to the whole process of Diamond mining, processing, selling and accounting for the proceeds. Loose ends will breed chances of funds misappropriation. On the dualisation of roads, I suggest that the other major roads should be dualised  for at least up to twenty kilometers  from the city centre in order to enable free flow of vehicle in and out of the city centre.

——

Please add item no.8 as follows: Electricity generation (Whether Zesa re-capitalization or new players) We cannot carry on like this.

——

Yes more MUST go into education. School fees are preposterous. No normal person can afford them only the CROOKS. Also how much longer must we put up with credits and vouchers in supermarkets for change. It is an infringement of all human rights. Why don’t we all get up and protest! What is wrong with us. The day of reckoning must come soon.

——

Yes! Thank you so much for outlining the recommendations which government should follow in as far as the distribution of wealth derived from natural resources is concerned, especially the controversial Marange diamonds. It is my understanding that youths from within & surrounding areas are not being considered for employment because they are MDC – by virtue of that area being an MDC strong-hold and that is most unfortunate and unfair.  I recommend that CPC look into that as well and there must be a total redress to the issue.

——

They must also use the money to boost public busses (zupco) and we also ZBC to improve its standards for televisions since more than 60% of  country hav poor signals and the second tv is only for Harare. And th government must also improve the minimum wages to a better level.

——

A fraction should be directed towards improvement of civil service salaries and working conditions.

——

Other budget considerations for Minister Biti for 2012 Financial year

1. Bulawayo-kezi-Mpoengs Border Road  and Maphisa-Tshelanyemba-Mambale border roads need upgrading (all weather road)

2. Bulawayo-Nkayi  and Nkayi Lupane-Tsholotsho roads to be upgraded as a matter of agency

3. Re-building of the National Herd (livestock-cattle and goats)

4. Water source development, at least 2 big dams per district in agro-ecological region 5 and accompanying irrigation systems to improve food security

5. Methane gas and related industrial development in Lupane (Mat North)

6. All our roads used to be protected from stray animals, all the fence along roads disappeared during the land reform exercise, I think we need that fence back as a matter of agency to protect both our farmers and motorists (cross country activity)

7. With the climate change issues taking centre stage- there has to investment in that direction in addition to pasture land resuscitation and general environmental management

——

I see all these stories in diamonds etc as a layman who has an interest in mining why is there no pressure on the platinum companies. they are making more money than the diamonds the diamonds in marange are alluvial at best conglomerates and not kimberlites so they wont last long.

But the Platinum deposits should be our saviour as a country we know only 5 companies in the world can set up a platinum mining operation but with our deposits and the companies operating them should we not be able to benefit as a nation from that.

Imagine if just the money generated from Platinum mining just goes through our banking system the difference that it will make to our economy right now there is no evidence that we have two big Platinum projects in Zimbabwe.

I am not partisan just a Zimbabwean who is watching from the sidelines. The Platinum and gold deposits are more sustainable. we must ask ourselves why we have dropped out of the top ten gold producers in Africa yet in the 90′s we were number 3 in Africa. On another note why give our iron ore deposits to a company that is just going to shift the iron ore out and process elsewhere we really need to look at all our minerals there, also chrome etc

It is sad that so much attention is focused on diamonds and as civil society people should cover all aspects of mining and see how zim can be helped.

——

While I think that the 7 priorities for diamond revenue are very important, there is one glaring omission…the environment. This revenue is from mining, which wreaks havoc on sensitive natural ecosystems and only provides immediate benefits to humans as laid out in the list of priorities. This is somewhat short-sighted and unsustainable, as if we continue to take from the earth without giving back and caring for our natural resources – water, wildlife, trees and soil – we will end up in a much worse situation. So I think another priority should be something like “The restoration of the environment in all areas damaged by mining activities including tree planting and cleaning up toxic waste from mining, together with refurbishment of all National Parks and wilderness areas and investment in anti-poaching and community programs such as CAMPFIRE.” Without give and take, no system survives for very long.

The cholera outbreak of 2008, which claimed the lives of thousands, was devastating. Sadly, as soon as the situation was under control, and fewer and fewer people died of the disease, we all took on an attitude that the crisis had been overcome and that the worst was over. Not much has done to put systems and infrastructures in place to prevent Zimbabwe from ever being riddled with the infectious disease again.

It therefore comes as no surprise that we are now reading news reports about typhoid fever infections. What preventative measures are being taken to ensure that Harare’s cholera-friendly atmosphere, (poor water supply, garbage collection and sanitation facilities), does not contribute to or result in another deadly outbreak? Prevention is better then cure! Is it possible to nip typhoid fever in the bud, as it were, before it becomes cholera?

See the related story in The Zimbabwean.

Traffic across Harare was worse this morning thanks to a city-wide power outage, and it sounds like must of the rest of the country would have also been affected.

The statement issued this morning by the Chairman of the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) helps to explain:

Dear Stakeholder/Customer

It is with regret that I advise of the sudden “shut down”" of both our major sources of generation at 0625 hours this morning (Wednesday 9th November 2011).

This was caused by a major system disturbance (system instability) on the transmission network. Early indications are that this disturbance originated from the transmission line from Mozambique. It would appear that this was a severe shock as it also impacted on the Kariba North Bank station (Zambia)

When the stations are subjected to these exogenous shocks the first step is to look for collateral damage before sequentially bringing units back on line.

It its hoped that units at Kariba can be brought back over the next 24 hours. Hwange takes a  few days and this period may have  be extended due scarcity of diesel in the country.

Thank you

R. Maasdorp
Chairman ZPC

Note: Update from ZPC Chairman 2pm 9 Nov 2011 – Kariba has all units back on the grid – record time, well done to the team there. Hwange now ready to bring the first unit back.

U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Ambassador Charles A. Ray, gave a talk at the embassy’s public affairs section in commemoration of Veteran’s Day, which falls on the 11th of November annually. A US veteran himself, having served in the military from 1962-1982, and as one who has been making the effort to completely transition from military to civilian life for the past 29 years, the Ambassador’s credibility on the issue was unquestionable.

“They say a leopard can’t change its spots. Well, each year thousands of military veterans change their spots, and they make the transition back into being civilian,” the Ambassador said. He addressed the transition under the following 3 topics:

1. US govt contributions – GI Bill of rights
The government has taken a legislative approach to helping soldiers, especially through the 1944, Serviceman’s Readjustment Act, which sought to make reintegration into civilian life easier for returning soldiers through providing:
Education
Job training
Job location
Low interest home loans – contributing to the housing market boom in the 60s.

2. Return of Vietnam veterans and eventual recognition of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
The Ambassador emphasized that the reception a soldier receives on his return home, also has an impact on their readjustment to civilian life. The Vietnam war generated a lot of frustration, protest, anger in American society, which affected the way people treated returning soldiers. This frosty welcome, coupled with PTSD, (mental illness resulting from exposure to combat trauma), meant that these veterans did not do as well at readjusting to civilian society.

Ambassador Charles stated that approximately 20% of the 2,700,000 who served in Vietnam experienced PTSD, which could be very incapacitating flashbacks, extreme anxiety, which affect the soldier’s reintegration. The eventual recognition and establishment of treatment services for PTSD has helped the war vets. Currently, the US Army takes great care to treat and inform soldiers and their families of PTSD in order to combat it.

3.Personal Perspective
“While my story might be easy to read on paper, I can tell you from personal experience, that the transition is something that is accomplished with no small amount of difficulty.” Ambassador Ray said this before explaining some of the things that affected his, not-yet-complete, adjustment to civilian life.

He explained that the military is a highly structured environment where each person has a place with heavy emphasis on discipline, planning, preparation and training. He also explained that there was a sense of camaraderie in the institution, unlike any other in the world and a strong sense of respect for authority and each other. Ambassador Ray expressed his difficulty with the casual way civilians relate to and address each other and even with calling people who are senior to him in the hierarchy by their first name, as this was unheard of in the military.

“In the military, you never have to worry about what to wear”. An everyday task in civilian life, such as, deciding what to wear proved a challenge to the Ambassador for several years. He still maintains a military haircut that he gets cut at a military barber and still wears military shoes.

Many of the skills attained in the military he says have often helped him in his professional career. Though he has come a long way in his transitional journey, the Ambassador admitted that he is still not quite a civilian.

Through his contacts with military and former military people globally, both from regular (military) and irregular forces (rebel forces, child soldiers), the Ambassador says the problem of readjustment are pretty much the same.